"The Chen Residence," but it was meant for the man hailed on stage,

g of champagne glasses, feeling like a ghost. The man on the giant scre

hall. "The silent genius behind 'Genesis,' the platform that reshaped our

ent blank

rtment. The David I knew was the reason I worked three jobs, the reason my hands were raw from washing

life, lived on a knife's e

ill-fitting suits were gone, replaced by a tailored charcoal masterpiece that probably cost more than our car. His postu

a wave of nausea so intense I had to g

I' d heard him mention it, but he' d always called it a "small, struggling startup." He' d

ervers for his "project." The countless nights I' d brought him meals at the small, rented offi

er' s necklace. It was a delicate antique, the onl

te, convincing sincerity. "Mr. Henderson is threatening to pull the p

to the pawnshop owner. But

or being a titan of industry, I realized that our fut

l-wishers swarmed him. I watched, paraly

y Ha

ved through the crowd with an easy grace, walking right up to David. He turned, his public

e. She was his COO, the announcer had said. His colle

too far to hear everything, but a few words drif

ker of annoyance in her eyes as she sub

nge. He kept his arm around he

ismissive. "She' s still useful. The story of my

sound. "The poor, devoted wife

ing against her hair. "She's too na

A decade-long piece of theater, and I was the unwitting, unpaid lead actress. He hadn' t just d

dreams of being an artist. He hadn't just

hollow ache in my chest that spread through my entire body. I looked down at my hands, the

fool who funded his first steps with the last remnants of my family's legacy. While he w

air hit me, but I didn't feel it. I felt nothing but a vast, empty coldness inside. The

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